For the first time since the horrific events of June 7 — when a man released on bail in Auburn murdered one person and burned down two houses before being shot to death by police — the newly renamed Maine Commission on Public Defense Services met last week to consider the enormous backlog in finding attorneys for criminal defendants.

The backlog, now involving hundreds of cases, is directly related to the Auburn shootings; a judge released the defendant after repeated court appearances where no attorney could be found to represent him.

Maine is trying to build a new public defender corps to supplement the old system of assignment by judges and court clerks. Despite generous incentives for lawyers to volunteer, however, the opposite is occurring: there are fewer and fewer attorneys available, and delays keep growing.

It’s the commission’s job to take charge and find a solution. And a growing list of critics — now including Gov. Janet Mills — say the new eligibility standards are inadvertently too restrictive, making the problem worse.

The commission’s immediate response to criticism was, frankly, underwhelming.

The facts are not really in dispute. When the new commission was formed in 2019, it was clear that standards for the traditional system had been too lax, and it dramatically tightened them.

To compensate, the state agreed to raise the hourly compensation — first from $60 to $80 in 2021, and then to $150 two years later. If more than doubling the pay leads to fewer attorneys on the roster, something is clearly amiss.

Dating back more than a year, the commission ignored the suggestions of one of its members, retired Supreme Judicial Court Justice Donald Alexander, to find ways to attract more lawyers.

At its July 25 meeting, the commission agreed to minor tweaks — Executive Director Jim Billings characterized them as providing “a little more flexibility.” They’re unlikely to have any significant effect, and Alexander opposed them as inadequate.

“We’re making minimal changes to a rule that needs major changes,” Alexander said. He added that a July 18 letter to the commission from Mills should have received more serious consideration.

Indeed it should have. Mills lays out a compelling case for why the new system, despite the best intentions, is not meeting the state’s needs, nor those whom it’s constitutionally required to represent.

Point by point the governor furnishes examples of where the rules provide disincentives to serve. Attorneys are barred from handling appeals in cases they brought to trial — a standard not even followed for privately represented defendants.

It fails to consider prosecutorial experience by those now volunteering as defense attorneys; in a small state like Maine, countless attorney have argued for the prosecution and for the defense. We simply don’t have the specialized bars typical of large states like New York or Texas.

Mills is fully justified in calling the rules “overly stringent.” They represent an ideal, abstract standard of justice that’s hard to uphold when taxpayers must pay the bills and so many defendants have no attorney at all.

Mills, who herself has represented hundreds of indigent clients, said the commission must “consider every available option for making an immediate difference.”

The message hasn’t yet gotten through. One defense attorney addressing the commission said the rules shouldn’t be changed unless “there’s a line of former prosecutors beating on the door to become rostered.”

That’s hardly the point. The backlog needs to be reduced, and each attorney disqualified is another that cannot help.

Some point the finger at large law firms for failing to answer Chief Justice Valerie Stanfill’s plea for help, but this too ignores whether there in fact may not be enough attorneys who can meet the new standards.

Others invested in the status quo included the commission’s former executive director and former District Court Judge David Soucy, who advised against any changes. “And yet,” Soucy conceded, “the lawyers are not jumping on board.”

This approach has failed. In some other state, in some other time, the commission’s standards might be appropriate, but not here, and not now.

Sooner rather than later, judges will feel compelled to release more defendants because their constitutional guarantee to a speedy trial hasn’t been met, with potential consequences that as we’ve already discovered are all too real.

When challenged, those in charge often double down on their positions, but that’s clearly not working. Time is short for a solution, and the commission had better get busy finding it.

Douglas Rooks has been a Maine editor, columnist and reporter since 1984. He is the author of four books, most recently a biography of U.S. Chief Justice Melville Fuller, and welcomes comment at drooks@tds.net.